Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Yesterday, in a seminar about marketing to Millennials, the Golden Rule Issue came up again.

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

The discussion centered around customer service and someone said, “The basic philosophy in customer service should be The Golden Rule.”

When I said I didn’t think that was true it got really quiet.

We were having the seminar in the community room at a Pizza Inn (I know, nothing but the most lavish venues for me!) and I asked the questioner, “Tell you what, if I asked you to go to the buffet and get me a plate of pizza what would you bring back?”

He said, “Pepperoni, sausage, cheese and maybe some of that desert pizza with cinnamon and icing! I love that stuff!”

(Is your mouth watering?!)

I asked, “Why those choices?”

“Because that’s what I like and I think that’s what most people like. Those are the most popular choices.”

I said, “So, you would be doing to me what you would like to have done to you, The Golden Rule, right?”

“Right.”

I said, “Ok, if you did that for me I’d thank you for your kindness and then tell you that I have a reflux problem and can’t seem to eat pepperoni, sausage or bacon without having a reaction that feels like a heart attack.”

I asked the group, “What’s the solution here?”

They agreed that taking a moment to ask what I liked would be the quickest way to get me what I would like and could eat.

What they revealed—in a very practical way—is The Platinum Rule.

Do unto others the way they would have it be done to them.

In customer service, in any kind of relationships (personal/community/global), the key is The Platinum Rule.

Someone quickly offered the thought, “But there are some customers who want everything for free! How do you deal with them?”

You suggest that your product or service is not for them. You can’t make everyone happy. You can’t serve everyone.

And yes, this point goes to everything from individual relationships such as marriage, to global relationships between nations.

People want what they want, and what they want may not be what you want.

Do unto others the way they would have it be to them.

If you're smart (and I think if you're reading this you're really smart!), you'll take a moment to think about the relationships in your life. What do they want?

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

You know and I know that there’s some dream/project/idea/ambition/responsibility/job/…some something you’ve been promising yourself (and, maybe others) you would get done this year.

100 days.

Today is a great day to create a plan to make the dream a reality; to fulfill the responsibility. There’s something that, at the end of the year, if you complete it, you’ll be able to look back, feel great, and say, “I did it!”

100 days.

I’ve got a couple of projects I’ve been working on and I have to say that I need to pick up speed on them. So, I’ve got a calendar and a marker and I’m going to number the days as they pass and hold myself…

***you know what? I just started to write, “try to hold myself responsible”….and that ain’t it. Trying doesn’t get it done. Here’s what I’m going to do: By January 1 I will have 3 books on Amazon. One novel and two non-fiction books. Also, I’m working on a project called Liar’s Gold, and by January 1 it will be up and running with a website.

100 Days.

If I don’t have those projects completed I pledge to donate $500 to a political candidate whom I believe is absolutely worthless. And I’ll write about it and confess to the failure and donation right here in the blog.

If you know a worthless candidate to whom YOU would not want ANYONE to contribute money send me a comment at mcollins62@gmail.com and I’ll see if your worthless candidate is the same as mine.

100 Days.

So, there you go! The challenge has been issued, the punishment laid out. The reward will be seeing these projects completed.

Friday, September 18, 2015

Recently, two seminar attendees offered truths I’ll be passing on to others for years to come.

The first was a new supervisor who noted that some of his employees had gotten into a Rhythm of Slack.

(If, for whatever reason, you aren’t familiar with this use of the word slack, it means, characterized by a lack of work or activity)

He said, “They do just enough to keep their jobs, and they’ve been doing that for years. So, they’ve gotten into a rhythm of slack and it’s almost impossible to pull them out of it.”

I started looking around at my life and realized that, in some areas, I’ve gotten into a rhythm of slack. Now, it isn’t that there aren’t some areas of life in which it’s fine to put yourself on autopilot. In fact, as humans we do it all the time, it’s a way to conserve energy for the really important things.

But, most of us profess to have certain goals in life; accomplishments that would mean a lot to us and that we want to see realized. Then, we slide into a rhythm of slack and, years later, we say, “Well, it would have been nice if that had happened, but it just didn’t work out.” The reason it didn’t happen is because we got slack.

Look around. Have you eased into a rhythm of slack in important areas of life? I know I have. Seems like a good time to pick up the pace.

Wednesday, September 2, 2015

As much as I appreciate you reading the blog, as soon as you are through reading this you need to go to lifehack.org. You’ll find tons of great suggestions for work, travel, health, and other important life issues.

The thing I love about lifehack.org is that almost all the articles are in list fashion so you might not be able to use everything you read, but there’ll be something in there that was worth your time.

I know there are tons of sites begging for attention, like this one, but

Contact

Mike Collins is president of The Perfect Workday Company, an information company based in The Research Triangle Region of North Carolina. He presents 100+ programs a year for organizations such as IBM, American Express, Novo Nordisk Pharmaceuticals and The John F. Kennedy Special Warfare School and Center.